Matthew Mokoena | consciousness.co.za Magazine

A few months ago, I was reading an article on a news site and this line happened to take a rough right jab at my eye, “The susceptibility of women and children to HIV was directly linked to the high levels of sexual violence committed against them.” This, from a prominent Capetonian politician, had me mauling over the ‘this-ness of this,’ the brutal, beastly nature of unperceptive men. “The Archbishop must be flooding his bedside with incessant prayers to the Christian God,” I thought.

posted
2012

May

Oratile O’Rrah Majoe

My skin is of the texture of slowly shattering glass due to my heart that is breathing out.

Life sweet thus it is meant to be enjoyed

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2012

Feb

Nombongo

Nombongo tells the tale of how music chose her: “I think as a kid I’d dreamt of many things, but music was not one of them and considering it a career has been a recent development.”

This 24-year-old jazzy soul musician started writing music in 2002 when she was in high school.

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2012

Feb

Taxan Tshabalala

Taxan Tshabalala is a South African poet, writer and performance artist.

This outspoken young man fuses humour with his intellectual and ambiguous style of writing to deliver powerful messages whilst educating and entertaining.

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2012

Feb

The Spoken Mind Lives

Let me take this moment to reintroduce my new found self. During my long leave of silence I have turned my face to the Son (sun), thus the shadows have fallen behind. I have embraced the spoken secrets whispered by those who have lived before me, not because those who spoke them were perfect, but because the lessons learnt from a man of fault are as candles lit to disperse the darkness

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2012

Jan

The Intervarsity Spokenmind Competition

This page, the Spoken Mind, being resident in Consciousness is somewhat symbolic to me. It conjures up visions of home, of belonging, like the stars inhabiting the night skies, familiar. It has imbued the patriot in me.

A patriot is one who not only supports with her/his passion, but also with her/his dreams and beliefs and with the very sinew of her/his life. Perhaps I should have written a piece about this passion beforehand, a year or so ago, to introduce our readers to the (at the time) faceless author of the Spoken Mind.

posted
2011

Aug

Conversations With Yesterday: An Evening With Don Mattera

In my mind, I had always imagined yesterday as a personified, moving allegory of the deceptive hands of time. A noun as opposed to an adverb. She would be a great speaker oozing provocative diatribes.

Adorned in fitting attire, she would be an enceinte symbol of rhetoric, lest mundane thinking beset us. Aristotle would dress her in fine linen of “logos, pathos and ethos.”

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2011

Apr

Black Culture Education Tour

A 6-city orchestral tour with artist and activist Simphiwe Dana, in which she will visit surrounding rural and township schools on a personal exploration to increase awareness of the state of public education in South Africa.

This exploration will encompass school infrastructure, literacy, libraries, teachers, individuals, communities and resources.

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2011

Feb

Re-counting the year

Be mindful, in all it gives (all the secrets it consistently shares) the world will not remind you how Godless you’ve rendered it. Nor will it be moved to tears at how mercilessly you’ve ruled its people or at how selfishly you’ve served its masters.

posted
2010

Oct

Street Poets Art Factory REVIEW

The Street Poets (SP) Society’s growth over the last nine years is comparable to no other inner city Spoken Word movement I have ever come across.

Constantly innovating and challenging its members to become more efficient writers and outstanding word Smiths, Mokoena’s, Matabane’s and Sekamotho’s.

posted
2010

Sep